Apparatus for making nitrogen and carbon dioxid.



C. D. McCOURT 6: C. ELLIS.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING NHROGEN AND CARBON DIOXID.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 2e, 1.912. RENEWED MAY 18.1918.

1,289LQ96; Patented Dec. 31, 1918.

WITNESSES CYRIL DOUGLAS MGCOURT, OF LONDON, ENGLAND,

AND CARLETON LLIS, DEMON!!!- CLAIR, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNGRS, BY MESNEASSIGNMENTS, TO SURFACE COMBUS- TION, INCL, 0F WILMINGTON, DELAWARE, A.CORPORATION OF DELAWARE APPARATUS FOR MAKING NITROGEN ANDCARBON DIOXID.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ea. 31, acre,

Application filed. January 26, 1912, Serial No. 673,572. Renewed May 18,1918. Serial No. 235,392.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that W e,'CYR IL D. MoCoUR'r, a subject of the King of GreatBritain, and resident of 45 Braxted Park, Streatham Common, London,England, and CARLETON ELLIS, a citizen of the United States, andresident of Montclair, county of Essex, and State of New Jersey,havemade certain new and useful Invent-ions Relating to Improvements inApparatus for-Making Nitrogen and Carbon Dioxid, of which the followingis a specification, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing-which forms a part of the same.

This invention relates to apparatus for making nitrogem andcarbon-dioxid, for instance, by the combustion of explosive mixtures ofgaseous fuel and air preferably, in substantially the proportionsrequired for the complete combustion of the fuel so as to produceproducts of combustion containing only relatively small proportions ofthe combustible material or of the supporter of combustion therefor. Thecarbon dioxid may be separated from such'products of combustion as byabsorption ina suitable carbonate liquor system 'in which potassium orsodium carbonate solution is circulated to absorb carbon-dioxid from thecombustion gases and to liberate the same when the carbonate liquor isheated as b the heat from the combustion producing t e gases, forinstance, and the carbon-dioxid may be utilized by drying andcompressing into liquid form. The decarbonated gases may be urified tothe desired extent and the resu ting nitrogen fixed as by conversioninto cyanamid 0r utilized in other ways.

In the illustrative form of apparatus shown diagrammatically inthedrawing one Or more boilers or evaporating devices 35 may be usedprovided with the desired number of heating tubes 38 containing orpacked with refractory combustion accelerating material37, such forinstance, as granular fireclay magnesite or other material of aboutone-half or'one inch mesh. Any suitable explosive gaseous mixture formedby the mixture or incorporation of a combustible gas or vapor or mixturethereof with air or other supporter of combustion preferably in aboutthe proportions required for the complete combustion of the combustiblematerial may be injected or brought into contact with the heatedrefractory material to effect the accelerated surface combustion of theexplosive gaseous mixture therein as described more fully in the patentsof Bone, Wilson and MoCourt, such as their United States Patent No.1,015,261-of January 16, 1912.

' This may be effected by forcing air and promay with properregulationof the'propor-' tions of gas and air contain only a fraction of a percent. of excess oxygen or of combustible material. 'The combustion gasesespecially where a suitable gasometer is 1n'ter-' posed in the gassupply system may be read- 11y produced with an excess of oxygen notexceeding one or two per cent, that is, there maybe an excess of oxygenin the combustion-gases to an' extent less than the percentage idicatedor the oxygen excess may be m'l and there may be a slight excess ofcom-- bustible components in the gases. Many other means of effectingthe substantially complete and preferably accelerated combustion ofgaseous or other fuel may be used, as for instanceby burning combustiblegases .under considerable pressure or burning fuel of various kindsunder conditions of intense heat in the presence of substantially thetheoretical amount of air or other supporter of combustion so as tosecure combustion gases with preferably an excess of oxygen notexceeding a few per cent. For example, one or more diaphragm combustionunits may be used in this way, the porous refractory dia hragm 45 beingindicated as mounted Within a suitable casing of iron or the like havinga facing 44 of mica or other suitable material to allow the transmissionof heat from the diaphragm. A suitable mixture of explosive gases may besupplied to the diaphragm through the gas and air supply pipes 43 inwhich the valves 42 may be arranged to secure the proper mixturepreferably containing substantially theoretically correct proportions ofair and combustible gas or vapor for complete combustion. As describedin the British and United States patents and applications of Bone,Wilson and McCourt the refractory diaphragm may be formed of granules ofporous refractory.

established under which the explosive gases burn with acceleratedsubstantially flameless combustion within the outer or discharge layerof the diaphragm.

50 shows another boiler contammg one or more heating tubes 47 adapted tocont-am suitable granular combustion acclerating material so as toeffect the surface combustion of explosive gases supplied under thedesired pressure of several ounces or so by suitable injecting meanssuch as the gas and air pipes 53. The liquid 49 within this boiler maybe water and its evaporation may produce steam which may be collected inthe steam dome 51 and supplied through the steam pipe 52 for powerpurposes or the like. The combustion gases in this case are indicated aspassing into a suitable water heater or economizer 48 which may begenerally similar in construction to that shown in the Bone, Wilson andMcCourt Patent No. 1,015,131 of January 16, 1912 so as to utilize aconsiderable proportion of the heat of the combustion gases for theheating of the boiler feed water or other purposes. The cooledcombustion gases may then be drawn through the exhaust pipe 47 connectedwith the gas pump 46 which forces them through a suitable pipe. 23. Thecombustion gases from the diaphragm heating units may when the valves 59are open pass through the pipe 29 and be forced by the gas pump 24 intothe pipe 23 and this gas pump may also receive or draw the combustiongases from the boiler or heater 35 through the economizer or waterheater 28 so as to force. all the combustion gases in the combustionsystem illustrated into the pipe 23.

Suitable cleaning or washing devices may 55 be used to preliminarilyremove undesirable elements, such as any sulfur dioxid that may bepresent in the combustion gases and for this purpose suitable Washers,such as 18, 20'

may be used containing a relatively small 0 amount of water or otherfluid 21 which may be slowly circulated therethrough by any desiredmeans so as to substantially completely absorb the sulfur dioxid fromthe combus-' tion gases as they pcrcolate up through the water on beingdischarged from the pipe 22.

through preferably in the opposite direction The pipe 19 leads into asimilar second washer 18- where a similar percolating action may takeplace, the washed combustion gases passing through the regulating valve17 and pipe 15 into any suitable absorption de- '70 vice 9 which may bein the form of a tower of the desired height packed with coke or othersuitable material 10 over which any suitable absorption liquor may beallowed to flow. The absorption or carbonate liquor may be an aqueoussolution of any suitable absorbent of carbon-dioxid, as for instance aten to thirty per cent. solution of potassium or sodium carbonate orother available salt. This carbonate liquor may be upplied from so theliquor tank 13 through the pipe 11 in amounts regulated by the liquorfeed valve 12 so as to trickle down through the absorption device and beextensively brought into contact with the combustion gases fed theretothe flow "of the carbonate liquor so that the carbonate liquordischarged-from the absorption device through the pipe 16 having thevalve 30 contains a large amount of bicarbonate. By heating thiscarbonate liquor in any desired way carbon-dioxid may be liberatedtherefrom and the bicarbonate correspondingly transformed into carbonatefor reabsorption of additional amounts of gas. 9. This may beconveniently effected by heating the carbonated liquor by heat evolvedin'the production of the combustion gases, as for instance by passingthe carbonate liquor through the pipe 26 communicating with the heateror economizer 28 when the valve 58 is opened so as toheat this liquor toa. considerable extent before it passes through the pipe 41 into theboiler 35, althoughof course by opening the valve 25 and closing thevalve i 58 the carbonate liquor may fiow through the bypass around theeconomizer 28 and. directly into the pipe 41. This liquor 36 isconsiderably raised in temperature in the boiler 35 and the availablecarbon-dioxid 11o largely or completely driven therefrom so as to betaken from the dome 27 by the pipe 32. This carbon-dioxid may be driedin any desired way as by passing it through a suitable drier 31 and thegas may then be compressed in any compressing apparatus, such formstance, as the three-stage compressor 33 so as to make thecarbon-dioxld available a in compressed or liquefied form for commercialpurposes. The restored carbonate liquor may be taken from the boiler orheater 35 by the ipe 40 and forced by the circulating pump 34 throughthe pipe 14 into-the liquor tank 13 from which it may again circulatethrough this carbonate liquor system as described.

,The decarbonated combustion gases delivered preferably through a pipe 8from the absorption device under a slight pressure above that of theatmosphere to prevent inmeasles Ward leakage may be purified or freedfrom any undesirable component such as' the slight excess of oxygen orcombustible gas.

by passing the same through a suitable purifier 6. By using cuprouschlorid, hot copper'oxid, etc, in this purifier any traces ofcombustible material, such as carbon-monoxid may be eliminated orrendered harmless, or if the decarbonated combustion gases contain aslight excess of oxygen this may be eliminated therefrom by using hotfinely divided copper in the purifier. The gases from the purifier maypass through the pipe 5 when the valve 55 is open so as to pass throughthe connected pipe 4 into any suitable converter for utilizing or fixingthe nitrogen. The combustion gases may, how

ever, pass directly from the absorption de-.

vice to the converter when the valve -55 is closed and the bypass valve7 is opened so as to directly connect the pipes 8 and 4:. The convertermay be of any desired form, such for instance, as the converter tank 2through which passes a suitable heating element 1 in the form of acarbon rod through which electricity may be passed to supply heat in thedesired amounts to the granu ar carbid 3, for instance, containedwithin'the converter, such material absorbing nitrogen to form cyanamidwhen the proper conversion temperature has been reached.

Having described this invention in connection with an illustrative formof apparatus, parts, devices, materials, arrangements and orders ofsteps, to the details of which disclosure the invention is not of courseto be limited, what is claimed as newand what is desired to be securedby Letters Patent is set forth in the appended claims:

1. Apparatus for producing nitrogen and carbon-dioxid, comprising aboiler provided with a tube or tubes extending through the liquid spaceof the boiler and packed with granular refractory material, means forinjecting into the granular refractory material within the tubes anexplosive gaseous mixture of fuel gas and air in substantially combiningproportions to efiect accelerated surface combustion of the explosivemixture and to heat said boiler, an economizer to receive the combustiongases from the boiler and coolthe same, an absorption device to whichthe cooled combustion gases are delivered, and means for circulatingcarbonate liquor through said absorption device and then through saideconomizer and said boiler to" cause carbon-dioxid to be absorbed fromthe combustion gases by the carbonate liquor in the absorption deviceand to heat the carbonate liquor in the economizer and in the boiler todrive ofi' carbon-'dioxid therefrom.

2. Apparatus for producing nitrogen and carbon-dioxid, comprising aboiler having a furnace portion provided with a bed of granularrefractory material, means for injecting into said bed of refractorymaterial an explosive gaseous mixture of fuel gas and air insubstantially combining proportions to effect surface combustion of theexplosive mixture and to heat the boiler, an

' economizer to receive the combustion gases from the boiler and coolthe same, an absorption device to which the cooled combustion gases aredelivered, and means for circulating carbonate liquor through saidabsorption device and then through said economizer and said boiler tocause carbondioxid to be absorbed from the combustion .,plosive mixtureand to heat the boiler, an

absorption device to which the combustion ases are delivered, and meansfor circulatmg carbonate liquor through said absorp tion device and thenthrough said boiler to cause carbon-dioxid to be absorbed from saidcombustion gases by the carbonate liquor in the absorption device and toheat the carbonateliquor in the boiler to drive ofi carbon-dioxidtherefrom.

a. Apparatus for producing nitrogen and carbon-dioxid, comprising aboiler, means of fuel gas and air in substantially combining proportionsand to thereby, heat the bo1ler, an economizer to receive the combustiongases and to cool the same, an absorption device to which the cooledcombustion gases are delivered, and means for cir culating carbonateliquor through the absorption device and then through the economizer andthe boiler to cause carbon-dioxid to be absorbed from the combustiongases by the carbonate liquor in the absorption device and to heat thecarbonate liquor in. the economizer and in the boiler to drive offcarbondioxid therefrom. t a

5. Apparatus for producing nitrogen and carbon-dioxid, comprising aboiler, means for effecting accelerated surface combustion.

the carbonate li%u carbon-dioxid t erefrom.

6. Apparatus for producing nitrogen and carbon-dioxid, comprising meansfor efiecting accelerated surface combustion of an explosive gaseousmixture of combustible gas and air in substantially combiningproportions, an absorption device to which the combustion gases aredelivered, means for circulating carbonate liquor through the absorptiondevice to absorb carbondioxid from the combustion gases, and means forheating said carbonate liquor by heat developed by said combustion todrive off carbon-dioxid therefrom.

7. Apparatus for producing nitrogen and carbon-dioxid,comprising meansfor effecting combustion of fuel gas and air in substantially combiningproportions, means for cooling the combustion gases, an absorptiondevice to which the cooled combustion gases or in the boiler to driveoff ate liquor throughthe absorptlon device to are delivered, means forcirculating carbonabsorb carbon-dioxid from the combustion gases, andmeans for heating said carbonate liquor by heat developed by saidcombustion to vdrive 0E carbon-dioxid therefrom.

8. Apparatus for producing nitrogen and carbon-dioxid, comprising meansfor efiect ing combustion of fuel gas and air in substantially combiningproportions, an absorption device to which the combustion gases aredelivered, means for circulating carbonate liquor through the absorptiondevice, and means for heating the carbonate liquor by heat developed bysaid combustion to drive ofi carbon-dioxid therefrom.

CYRIL' DOUGLAS MCCQURT. CARLETON ELLIS.

WVitnesses: HARRY L. DUNCAN;

Jrssm B. KAY.

